The night’s most controversial moment came when Ryane Clowe clearly touched the puck from the bench during a late Los Angeles Kings rush. Here are a couple shots I managed to capture from NHL Game Center Live:

“It’s a shame that a guy can cheat and get away with it in a game this important.”

Well, wow. It’s difficult to say what received more criticism: yet another fantastic bit of hate settled by a skills competition or that missed call (which would have been a two-minute minor penalty, for all the hoopla).

“Congrats to Ryan Clowe on winning the San Jose Sharks 6th Man Award!”

Hopefully NHL officials round into playoff form by April 11 or there will be many long – and angrier – nights on Twitter. Speaking of which, The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein floated an interesting question: should Clowe actually be suspended for his action? Chew on that in the comments as we take a look at how that lost point could affect the West and Pacific:

The impact

Now that the West’s top eight has been settled, it’s all about playoff positioning. Here’s where everyone whose spot is still considerably subject to change stands now. (Note: I’ll save you deep analysis right now so your head doesn’t explode.)

As you can see, there’s a lot of potential for change. Any of the Kings, Sharks and Coyotes could swap spots. Phoenix can now “control its destiny” with those two remaining games while the Blackhawks could take the fifth spot with a regulation win against the Red Wings on Saturday.

There are a lot of moving parts, but at least you can snuggle with this bit of simplicity: those eight teams represent the playoff picture, as muddy as it is. Then again, that’s the only real bummer from a busy Thursday; postseason arrangements rather than berths are only on the line going forward.

The Washington Capitals came into tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with a chance to take a slim Southeast Division lead. It’s still possible for the Caps to come back from a 3-0 deficit, but if the pattern holds, Monday will provide another stew of embarrassment and frustration for Washington.

Tomas Vokoun might end up with the most egg on his face, though.

The Czech-born goalie allowed two goals on just seven shots, which was enough for Dale Hunter to yank him from the game. In the process, Vokoun experienced the shortest start of his career at just 5:09.

Tonight looked like it was going to be a run-of-the-mill evening of NHL action until Twitter just about exploded thanks to the stunning news that the NHLPA didn’t approve the NHL’s radical realignment plan. Some might contend with the notion that the players’ union actually rejected the realignment, including agent Alan Walsh:

So what does this mean for the NHL, NHLPA, the 2012-13 season and terrified hockey fans and writers? Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting reactions on Twitter.

NHL teams might officially say that they’re not happy with the NHLPA, but outspoken NY Post reporter Larry Brooks has an interesting take on how some (or perhaps most?) teams might really be feeling:

The factors are up to debate – especially if you are a natural cynic who doubts the honesty of press releases – but Dejan Kovacevic claims that it comes down to one man whose name is associated with terrifying labor stoppages:

If you polled the hockey world and asked people what they’re most tired of hearing about, it would be some combination of the words “concussion” and “out indefinitely.” The list of names keeps getting larger as Sidney Crosby, Jeff Skinner, Claude Giroux and Milan Michalek are sidelined with troubling head injuries. Michalek’s agent has had enough.

“With the economic incentive to make NHL hockey more exciting, the league worked diligently to increase the speed of the game,” Walsh said. “With increased speed necessarily comes increased collision. The results as it relates to player safety are self evident. It’s time for the NHL and teams to treat this issue as the crisis it is.”

Walsh calls for the league to look at the “root causes” of concussions, citing rules that opened up the game, finding safer helmets/mouth guards, head shots and fighting.

I’m with Walsh on improving safety equipment and wouldn’t be surprised to see staged fights gradually decline, but it’s hard to imagine the NHL going back to Dead Puck Era rules. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly more or less confirmed that suspicion by saying “The last thing anybody wants to do is overreact to a very short snapshot in time.” He’s also correct in saying that concussions are likely a fact of life in this sport – to some extent.

That being said, Daly isn’t 100 percent correct in saying that the league has done everything it can. The concussion procedures still have a way to go (“The Quiet Room” process seems like a joke to many, for example) and the NHL should stay on top of safety innovations.

The truth, then, is somewhere in between. The league still has room for improvement when it comes to preventing these injuries, but I don’t think that a drastic measure like bringing back obstruction is the answer.

What do you think, though? How far should the NHL go to curb this “epidemic?”